Block (NYSE:XYZ) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on XYZ. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Block from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Arete Research raised Block from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Block from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Block from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.42.

Block Stock Up 3.9%

Block stock opened at $69.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.56. Block has a fifty-two week low of $48.21 and a fifty-two week high of $82.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.31.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter. Block had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 3.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Block has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.860-0.860 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.850-3.850 EPS. Analysts predict that Block will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 1,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total transaction of $90,198.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 479,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,876,033.48. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Mathew Eisen sold 135,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.81, for a total transaction of $10,426,957.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,032,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,153,961.90. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 199,680 shares of company stock valued at $15,009,081 in the last ninety days. 11.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Company Profile

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.